BOSTON — A former Brazilian military police officer living in Massachusetts who was convicted in a mass killing in his home country has pleaded guilty to lying about his criminal past to get a U.S. visa, the U.S. Attorney said.
Antonio Jose De Abreu Vidal Filho, 31, a Brazilian national living in Malden, pleaded guilty to two counts of perjury in federal court in Boston, U.S. Attorney Leah Foley said Thursday.
U.S. District Court Judge Denise Casper scheduled sentencing for May 29. Vidal Filho remains in federal custody.
After his 2023 conviction in Brazil, and upon applying for a U.S. Visa, Vidal Filho “never disclosed his arrest in a case involving the murders of 11 people, mostly teenagers, in Brazil,” Foley said.
A federal grand jury indicted Vidal Filho in May.
On Aug. 14, 2023, federal authorities arrested the international fugitive at a construction site where he was working as a roofer in Rye, New Hampshire, after he became the subject of an Interpol Red Notice. Five local police officers assisted with his arrest.
“We had no clue, no clue,” Sammy Johnson, a framer who found himself in the middle of a terrifying take-down when federal authorities arrested Vidal Filho in New Hampshire, told Boston 25 in 2023.
Johnson earlier said he knew Vidal Filho simply as a roofer named “Tony,” and that he had no idea he had been working alongside a dangerous criminal as they built a large home in Rye, New Hampshire, a small, coastal town.
“The guy seemed like a nice guy, made chit-chat. It’s just crazy how you have no clue in this day and age – and how he got into New Hampshire,” Johnson said at the time.
Vidal Filho’s arrest in New Hampshire happened about two months after his conviction and sentencing in Brazil for his participation in 11 murders in that country, known as “The Slaughter of Curió.”
On June 25, 2023, Vidal Filho was convicted of 11 counts of murder, three counts of attempted murder and four counts of physical and mental torture in the First Court of Fortaleza, Ceará. That same day, he was sentenced to 275 years and 11 months in prison and an arrest warrant was issued.
Three other military police officers were also convicted in the massacre, named for the neighborhood where it took place in the city of Fortuleza, Brazil.
Vidal Filho joined the Ceara State Military Police in April 2014. The Brazilian state forces, under the governor, do first line policing on the street.
In the early morning hours of Nov. 12, 2015, several Brazilian military police officers who worked in Ceará, including Vidal Filho, “participated in a mass killing event” of mostly teenagers in Brazil from the impoverished neighborhoods of Barroso, Messejana, Guajeru, Curió and Lagoa Redonda in the capital of Ceará, prosecutors said.
The killings were reportedly carried out in retaliation for the death of a police officer who was trying to defend his wife who was being assaulted.
In total, 11 people, mostly teenagers, were murdered and many others seriously injured and tortured. Brazilian authorities ultimately charged 45 people, including Vidal Filho, in connection with the massacre.
Vidal Filho was arrested and detained by Brazilian police on Aug. 31, 2016. He was subsequently released pending trial on May 24, 2017.
Two weeks later, on June 9, 2017, while in Recife, Brazil, Vidal Filho applied for a United States non-immigrant B2 visitor visa.
When asked whether he had ever been arrested or convicted for any offense or crime, Vidal Filho “responded ‘no,’” Foley said.
Thereafter, on or about June 21, 2017, the State Department approved Vidal Filho’s visa application and issued him the B2 Visa. He used the B2 Visa and traveled to Miami on May 30, 2018.
From May 30, 2018 through Aug. 14, 2023, after getting his visa, Vidal Filho obtained various state driver’s licenses, a social security card, travel documents and authorizations for employment, Foley said.
Vidal Filho applied for asylum on Jan. 29, 2020 “and lied when asked whether he had ever been accused, charged, arrested, detained, interrogated and imprisoned in any country other than the United States,” Foley said.
“He also failed to disclose his arrest and detention in Brazil when he applied for adjustment of status with United States Citizenship and Immigration Service,” Foley said.
On Feb. 9, 2024, prosecutors said Vidal Filho testified under oath at an immigration hearing in U.S. Immigration Court that he had never lied to immigration officials, and that the only reason he had left off key information on immigration documents filed with the U.S. government was because he had not yet been arrested.
For the charge of misuse of visas, permits and other documents, he faces a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.
For the charge of perjury, he faces a sentence of up to five years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.
For the charge of falsifying, concealing and covering up a material fact, he faces a sentence of up to five years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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